Issues related to nursing process utilized with tracheostomized patients in Intensive Care Units.

Breathing is an integral part of the life as such. Some illnesses or injuries may endanger this necessity of life or make it start to fail. In such cases, the organisms in question face possible death. Up-to-date medicine allows to solve such issues by way of artificial ventilation of the lungs. Improvements in medicine and medical technologies have made the group of the states that require securing the airways and artificial ventilation of the lungs grow bigger. Free and unobstructed airways are the fundamental prerequisites for securing efficient ventilation. The aim of the thesis was to determine the most frequent issues faced by the nursing staff while taking care of the patients with tracheostomy cannula, and also to find out what tools are used by the said staff while communicating with such patients. Furthermore, the theses focused on finding out what procedures are utilized by the nursing staff so that tracheostomy cannula contamination is avoided. There was carried out a qualitative survey by way of two structured interviews. The first one was made with ten nurses picked at random who work in the Intensive Care Units of surgery and internal medicine departments and in the department of anesthesiology and resuscitation. The second interview was made with ten tracheostomized patients picked at random in the same departments. The outcome of the interviews shows that communication remains the biggest problem for both, the patients and the nursing staff. Further, the survey proved the nurses followed the prescribed standards concerning the maintenance of the tracheostomy cannula. The interviews with the patients revealed that food and fear of a cannula getting obstructed with consequent suffocating count among their biggest issues. The objectives of the thesis have been met. The outcome of the survey will be submitted to the collaborating departments and the results may be utilized to improve the nursing care for people with trachostomy cannula. It is recommended to educate and train nurses in communication techniques and rehabilitation provided to the ill. The best possible solution would be to arrange and organize a training dealing with such issues which would be meant for nurses. It is also recommended to establish a research concerning prevention of nosocomial infection in patients with tracheostomy cannulas